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Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant, otherwise known as the Lost Ark, is a very powerful artifact. According to the Bible, the Ark was a chest used by the ancient Hebrews to carry the Ten Commandments in. History When the Hebrews settled in Canaan, they placed the Ark in the Temple of Solomon, until it mysteriously disappeared. However, it seems that in about 980 BC the Egyptian Pharaoh Shishak raided the Temple and took the Ark with him to the city of Tanis, where he placed it the Well of the Souls to hide it from the eyes of his sun god Amun-Ra. .]] Adolf Hitler became interest in acquiring the Ark in order to achieve world domination. In 1936, when American government agents Colonel Musgrove and Major Eaton discovered this, they sent Indiana Jones on a mission to get hold of the Ark before the Nazis. He did find the Ark first, but it was taken from him by Nazi agents. The Ark changed hands between Indy and the Nazis several times, but, in the end, the Nazis opened the Ark on a secret island. Spirits flew down on them from the sky and the Nazis were all destroyed through Divine Intervention. Indy and Marion Ravenwood, who closed their eyes and looked away from the Ark, were spared. However, instead of giving the Ark to the museum, Musgrove and Eaton took possession of it. They told Indy and Brody that it was going to be studied by "top men," but in reality it was nailed inside a wooden box and placed inside a gigantic warehouse in Nevada among hundreds of similar crates, presumably for the rest of time. In 1957 Jones visited the place when captured by the Soviets; the box was broken during the subsequent furray, but Jones noticed it only fleetingly. Behind the scenes The Ark of the Covenant is featured in the Bible in real life, although some elements of the Ark were altered in the film. For example, Brody's statement that "the Bible speaks of the Ark leveling mountains and laying waste to entire regions" is only partially accurate (when it was captured by the Philistines it "laid waste" to their "region" via bubonic plague), though the Bible does state the Ark had supernatural powers. The actual fate of the Ark continues to elude archaeologists. The city of Tanis is one of many locations where it is theorized the Ark may lie. Historical accuracy *In the Bible, it is implied that whosoever even touches it directly will die on the spot. Two Nazis opened the Ark, which would have been two crimes against God; opening and looking inside the Ark, so if the movie were folowing historical facts, all of them would hav died instantly as the ark was opened. Everyone watching the broadcast, if it ever made it off the island, would have died, also. *The Ark is supposed to have the second set of the Ten Commandments written on it, which are whole, not the first broken pair. Appearances *''Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx'' *''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' novel *''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' *''Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures'' *''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' *''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' novel *''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' *''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' novel *''LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures'' Category:Artifacts